Papal Entreaty: Reconciliation

Stand United As One People, Cubans Implored

HAVANA — Thousands of Cuban exiles who flooded their homeland for Pope John Paul II's historic visit came away with a clear mandate: reconciliation.

The pope called on all Cubans to put aside their differences and unite as a people, to ``cooperate, peacefully in a constructive and respectful way in the nation's progress, avoiding useless confrontation and encouraging an atmosphere of positive dialogue and mutual understanding.''

Some aren't sure their communities are ready for this message.

But others think John Paul's visit will improve relations between Cubans and the 1.5 million people who have left the island since the 1959 revolution.

``If anyone has the moral authority to say this, it is the pope,'' said Jose de Armas, 57, who left Cuba 38 years ago and settled in Puerto Rico, where he owns a construction business.

Like many Cuban-Americans, de Armas favors keeping the 35-year-old U.S. trade embargo to pressure the communist system. But the week he spent among his people has changed his way of thinking slightly. He says food and medicine, at least, should be made exempt from the embargo.

``We have to find a way to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters here,'' said de Armas, who attended Sunday's papal Mass in the Plaza of the Revolution.

John Paul is not the first to advocate a peaceful end to a decades-old rift between Cubans who fled the communist takeover and those who stayed and supported it.

But the exiles, most of them Catholic, have never heard the message preached with such force from their spiritual leader _ the pope.

Like de Armas, Cuban-Americans who live outside Miami have an easier time accepting the pope's call to forgive those who they believe took their homeland away. But the message is a tougher sell in South Florida, home to the nation's largest group of Cuban exiles.

``I'm not sure the community is ready to accept this,'' said the Rev. Gabriel Vigues, 43, a Roman Catholic priest from St. Andrew Church in Coral Springs, who arrived from Miami on Sunday on a flight carrying 152 religious pilgrims. ``But miracles can happen.''

Last month, the Archdiocese of Miami canceled plans to send a cruise ship loaded with 1,000 Catholics to Cuba for the papal visit. Some exiles protested that the cruise would promote tourism for Cuba and legitimize the communist government.

Instead, the church chartered a plane for a one-day trip, to allow pilgrims to see the pope without spending any money in Cuba. The plane left Miami International Airport before dawn Sunday and returned 12 hours later. Fewer than half the passengers on the flight were Cuban-Americans.

Icy relations between the United States and Cuba had begun to thaw after the fall of Cuba's benefactor, the Soviet Union, in 1991. But after Cuban MiGs shot down two private planes flown by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four fliers, the United States tightened its sanctions.

With the death in November of exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, who personified the hard line against Castro, many think the Clinton administration might be willing to ease the policy _ and Cuban-Americans might be willing to accept such change.

``With Mas going to his eternal reward . . . there may be change,'' said U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., an opponent of the embargo who attended the papal Mass on Sunday. ``If they don't shoot any more planes out of the sky, we may be able to make it happen.''

But exiles in South Florida tend to believe that ``reconciliation'' and ``dialogue'' mean accepting Castro or lifting the trade embargo.

``Reconciliation? Only if there's change here,'' said Adelaida Alvarez, 73, of Miami, who was reunited on Sunday with her sister Teresita, whom she had not seen in 37 years.

Reminded of the pope's words, she said, ``I guess you can say that coming here is a first step.''

Gustavo Cuervo, 56, a landscape surveyor from south Miami-Dade County, was returning home for the first time since 1971.

``I'm choked up with emotion,'' said Cuervo, who paid $250 for his seat on the archdiocese plane. ``I'm just so proud to be in my country on this historic event. After watching all week what the pope has said in Cuba, I'm filled with great hope for my brothers and sister.''

The pilgrims were especially moved when they arrived at the Plaza of the Revolution, the heart of communist authority in Cuba.

A white makeshift altar stood in front of an eight-story mural of Jesus Christ, opposite the famous towering image of revolutionary hero Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara. A choir sang hymns in a setting normally reserved for workers marching on May Day. Cuban President Fidel Castro sat in the front row of folding chairs as John Paul preached a sermon filled with references to ``liberty for the oppressed.''

``I never thought this would be possible,'' said Fernando Heria, a priest from St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Miami. ``This is a gift from God.''